A DAILY muse on events along the path of developing and nurturing my business.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Marketing Metrics

My weight-loss method notwithstanding, I have hit on a revolutionary scheme to measure my marketing efforts.

One of my tactics is to ‘touch’ my contacts with a phone call.

Like many entrepreneurs, the thought of interrupting someone at their work scares me, but the prospect of going broke scares me even more.

Rick Shea of Optiv8 says that I need to know how each of my marketing tactics works.

Management Measures

I’ve tried making penciled tally-marks on a sheet of paper, but all too often I reach for the phone and forget to tally.

Here’s the scheme:

I place an empty glass jar to the left of telephone.

I place a tiny bowl of nickels to the right of the telephone.

When I reach for the telephone, I can’t help but see the jar and bowl.

I move a nickel from the easy-to-access bowl into the jar, and make the phone call.

If by the end of the day I have enough money for an ice-cream, I shall walk across the street to McDonalds .

Regardless of the outcome, at the start of the next day, all the nickels go back into the bowl.

Contact www.ChrisGreaves.com for this image! MarketingMetrics_GEDC0006.JPG

Here’s a photo of my setup; the phone sits IN the jar, which is an added reminder.

And yes, those are ½ inch washers in the bowl. You don’t expect me to use real nickels on the web, do you?

No accruals! That’s the rule.

P.S. If you have REAL trouble getting started with phone calls, start this scheme with two-dollar coins the first day, dollars the second, quarters the third, dimes the fourth, and settle down into nickels on the fifth day.

Be Nice to Yourself.

P.P.S. I suppose I could extend the scheme to a slab of Brie from Bruno ’s on those days when I email out a proposal.

P.P.P.S Let’s be clear about this: If your stumbling-block is picking up the phone to place a call, move the nickel AS you pick up the phone. It matters not that you got a recording and decided not to leave a message. What matters is that you PICKED UP THE PHONE and were willing to engage in conversation.

P.P.P.P.S You can measure several metrics at once by using, say, nickels for outgoing calls, dime for incoming calls – you get double-points if your outgoing calls result in a call back to you! Try a $5 note for every proposal you are invited to send out, $10 per invoice.